Lady in Red
by GirlWithNoLife
Summary: The night was going great, Mario and Luigi were both having a great time when suddenly Mario runs out. Luigi rushes after him to find out why, and is then taken down a trip down memory lane. Mario’s POV this time Edited!


**Disclaimers:** Mario, Pauline, Luigi, and everyone else belongs to nintendo.

**Summary:** The night was going great, Mario and Luigi were both having a great time when suddenly Mario runs out. Luigi rushes after him to find out why, and is then taken down a trip down memory lane. Mario's POV this time

Pairings: past Mario x Pauline, Mario / Luigi brotherly love)

I got such good feed back from 'My Brother's tears' when I did it in Luigi's POV, I decided to do one in Mario's POV so we could get his side of the story.

Enjoy!

Notes: The beginning is the same as My Brother's tears by the way, also I edited it because I made a lot of mistakes in the last one (sorry about that I was in hurry at my school.).

Thanks to Cascore and Walkazo for pointing them out.

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In the land of the Mushroom Kingdom, at the Mushroom Castle where a huge party was being held, everyone's favorite plumbers were having a wonderful time with their princess.

While Princess Daisy tended to Luigi, who had slipped on the dance floor, Princess Peach pulled Mario on to the balcony so they could have some alone time.

"Are you enjoying the party, Mario?" she asked him. Mario nodded.

"You bet!" he said as he snacked on a cupcake. "Especially since we don't have to worry about Bowser for now." Peach chuckled. Mario had just defeated Bowser a few hours earlier and Bowser didn't usually attack until a few weeks after a painful defeat (not to mention, Luigi had crashed his battle ship into his castle, so it would defiantly be awhile.). Peach edge closer to Mario, who was finishing his desert.

"It's a lovely night, don't you think?" she asked.

"Y-yeah..." Mario said, blushing as he realized how close she was. Peach chuckled.

"Mario, you silly! You have frosting all over your face." she pulled out her hankie and began to wipe the frosting off his face. Then faces came extremely close, making them both blush. They leaned closer and closer until they were only inches apart.

"_Mario!"_

A woman in a red dress flashed through his mind and Mario quickly pulled away from Peach.

"Mario?" Peach blinked in confusion. Mario looked away from her.

"I.... I have to go! I'm sorry!" Then suddenly he ran away from her and back into the castle.

"Ow!" Luigi yelped as Daisy held an ice pack to his head.

"Does it hurt?" Daisy asked.

"A little. Sorry I slipped." Luigi said.

"That's okay!" Daisy giggled. Just then Mario ran past so fast, they couldn't see his face.

"Whoa!" Luigi cried. He was so startled, he fell back and out of his chair. "Mario?"

"Mario!" Peach yelled as she ran up to them.

"Peach, what happened?" Daisy asked her.

"I don't know! He just ran off all the sudden!" Peach said as Luigi stood.

"Let me talk to him. I'll find out what's going on." he said. Then he ran out after Mario.

It wasn't easy to catch up, since Mario had a good head start, but Luigi had long legs and was used to running so eventually he managed catch up to Mario.

"Mario!!" he called as he panted heavily. "C'mon! Wait up!" He grabbed Mario's arm, making him finally stop running. Mario wouldn't look at him for some reason, but Luigi could see he was panting heavily.

"What happened, Mario? Was something wrong at the party?" he asked. Mario didn't speak, but shook his head. "Did you see Bowser?"

Again Mario shook his head.

"Does it have something to do with Peach?" Mario still said nothing, but he didn't shake his head, so Luigi guessed that was it. "I thought things were going great between you two! C'mon, Mario! Everyone knows you and Peach love each other, why don't you ask her to be your girlfriend?"

"I can't..." Mario said. Luigi could hear his brother's voice cracking, and this made Luigi even more confused than he was.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Pauline." The moment Luigi heard that name, he immediately understood as he released his brother's arm. The moment he was free Mario ran off, but this time Luigi didn't chase after him, which he was thankful for in that moment, Mario was enveloped by wind of memories.

'_Pauline...'_

~*~*~*~*~

It all began a few years after Luigi and I had moved into our apartment in Brooklyn. We had just finish fixing a pipe and now we were taking a lunch break at a cheap pizza shop.

"Oh, man! I'm bushed!" I had yawned as I stretched.

"Same here!" Luigi said as he slumped on the table. "Man, there have been a lot of calls for plumbers lately."

"I told you that commercial would work!" I grinned. Luigi just made a face and I grabbed a menu. "Well, at least we can afford a decent meal now. I eat as much as my stomach can hold!"

"We don't have that much." Luigi muttered.

"Hey!" I protested with a small glare. I was getting ready to deck him, when I heard the door open.

And that was when I saw her for the first time.

A woman with long flowing milk chocolate hair, ivory pale skin, and ice blue eyes thatseemed to shine like glass, walked in. She wore lavender eye shadow, dark red lip stick that matched perfectly with her dark silk gown. I felt my cheeks heat up a little as I stared at her.

She was beautiful.

I was brought back to reality when Luigi snapped his fingers in front of me.

"Hey, snap out of it!" he said.

"Huh?" I blinked. I'm not sure why, but he was glaring at me.

"Don't tell me you like that girl! She looks like a tramp!" he said.

"No she doesn't!" I snapped back. "I think she's pretty!"

"Yeah, well you can forget about her!" he said as he leaned back. "Girls like that only date tall, handsome, strong, rich men. You are none of thee above."

"Hey! I'm handsome!"

"Sure, you are."he said sarcastically as he grabbed a menu. "Look, just forget about her Mario. She would never go out with you."

Though I thought he was right, I just couldn't get her out of my mind. I went back to that shop every chance I got so I could just get a glimpse of her. The feeling I had was so strange... I had never felt anything like this even when I was in highschool. I really wanted to go up and talk to her, but I honestly I didn't know what to say to her.

Luigi kept telling me to just give up on her, but I still went to see her, even though I knew nothing would ever happen between us.

Then one night I got a real surprise.

"I tell you Mario, give it up! It'll never happen!" Luigi said as we waited for our pizza. "You haven't even mustered up the courage to talk to her!"

"Oh, shut up!" I grumbled. Just the a waiter walked up to me. "Yes?"

"I have a message from the lady over there," the waiter said as he motioned towards the object of my attention. "She wants to know if you're going to keep staring or ask her out." At this, I turned redder than my shirt as the woman chuckled.

After that I finally managed to talk to her and the next thing I knew, we were dating. I found out her name was Pauline and well, to put it simply she wasn't like any other girl I had ever met. She was bold and fierce, yet quaint and kind.

At first I was a little shy around her because, well for one the dress she always had low cleavage, and also... I had never had a girlfriend before, so I was new to all this. Plus she was tall and beautiful, and I was short and puggy. I thought that one day she might become bore with me and leave.

Then one night I heard her talking with a waiter.

"C'mon, Pauline. Ditch the little fat man and come with me. I promise a good time." I heard him say. I had left to go to the bathroom a few minutes before and now I was hiding behind a corner.

"Ah, so many things to say," Pauline said. "No way in heaven or earth, drop dead, go to hell? You pick."

"Aw, c'mon!" the waiter said. "He's five feet shorter than you, he's not exactly Einstein, and he's a total embarrassment to men everywhere." I then heard a splash or water. I peaked around the corner and saw that Pauline had thrown her cola all over the waiter and was giving him a glare so fierce, I trembled.

"The only embarrassment I see around here is you! You greasey, beady eyed, long nosed, tooth pick, slime ball!" she growled. "Even a idiot should know that the measure of a real man is not measure by how tall he is or how much he weighs, but by what's on the inside! Mario maybe small, but he has a big heart; He's honorable, noble, kind, and gentle. And he always thinks of me and my feelings. He is manliest man I have ever been with and I am proud to be his girlfriend!" Then she slammed her glass on the table and walked towards, where she gently grabbed my hand.

"Let's go," she said cooly. "The service here is rotten."

Somehow after that night, I was able to relax around her and we became closer and closer.

However, I had some problems dating her. One was Luigi.

"She's really nice, Luigi!" I had tried to convince him. "Why won't you even give her a chance?"

"I don't trust her type, Mario!" he told me as he folded his arms stubbornly.

"I'm not asking you to trust her type! I'm asking you to trust her!" I snapped. He stared at me in surprise and I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Luigi... You're my brother and I love you. And really, really like Pauline. Don't you love me enough to at least give her a chance?"

Luigi wasn't too happy, but he told me he would try for me. So I brought Pauline over to our apartment so they could get to know each other and hopefully learn to get along. They didn't, but they pretended they did.

Things were going okay until the night an ape had escaped from the zoo.

Pauline and I were having a romantic night together when it happened.

"The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?" Pauline asked as she edged closer.

"Yeah." I nodded. I looked up into her eyes, which were sparkling brighter than the stars in the sky. She looked down at me with a small smile.

"You remind me of them." she said.

"Huh? How?" I asked.

"You may be small, but you have a bright light about you. And all my wishes came true the moment I met you." she said. She leaned down close to my face and I blushed in surprise. Then after taking a nervous gulp, I slowly leaned closer to her. Our lips were just a inch apart when we heard a rustle in the bushes. We both looked up and Pauline screamed in fear when she saw the giant ape ten feet in front of us.

"Mama Mia!" was all I could say.

I could see the heart in it's eyes as it looked at Pauline, and truth be told, I felt jealous. The thing I knew, the ape had charged at us and knocked me to the ground.

"UGH!" I grunted as I hit the cold concrete. Then I heard Pauline's startled cry. I looked up and saw that the ape had grabbed Pauline and was now running off with her! "Pauline!!" I jumped and immediately took off in hot pursuit.

I followed them for many block but then I lost them when that big ape threw a banana peel at me and I had slipped on it. Now I was running all around Brooklyn trying to find them.

"Darn it! Where are they?" I panted as I rested my hands on my knees. Then I heard a bunch of sirens in the distance. Deciding it was my best bet, I follow the sound until I came to an old factory that was surrounded by police and news reporters.

"Police says that a mad ape has kidnaped a woman and is currently holding her in a old factory. Police are debating what to do." That was all I needed to hear. I pushed past the police and quickly ran into the factory.

"Pauline! Pauline! Are you here?" I called.

"Mario!" I looked up and saw the ape standing in front of a scared Pauline. The ape let out a loud shriek as it banged on it's chest. Then it grabbed a barrel and threw it at me. "Look out!"

"Wahahaha!!" I cried as I jumped over it. "Ha! You missed!" The ape growled then began to throw more barrels at me. I managed to dodge them all thanks to my amazing jumping ability, but I still didn't know how I was going to take him out. Before I could even begin to figure it out, I was hit in the head with a barrel that was full of hammers!

"Mario!" I heard Pauline scream.

"Ooh...." I moaned as the whole room started to spin. Then I finally noticed the hammers laying all around me. Quickly, I grabbed one then I jumped over the barrels the ape threw at me. Then when I was close, I brought the mallet down upon his head as hard as I could. He staggered for a few minutes, then fell back, stars dancing around his head.

"Mario, you did it!" Pauline as she ran to me.

"Are you alright?" I asked her. She nodded.

"I am. Thanks to you, my little hero!" Then she bent down and kissed me full on the lips.

That was my first kiss ever.

After that, I was absolutely sure that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I loved her. I loved her so much, I really didn't know what to do with myself.

Since I realized that, I started to scrimp and save all my money so I could buy her the perfect engagement ring. It took me a long time, but I finally managed to do it.

Before I proposed to her though, there was one more thing I had to do.

"You what?!!" he exclaimed after I had told him.

"I want to ask Pauline to marry me." I repeated. "I love her, Luigi. I... I want her to be my wife and I want to be her husband." When I told him this, I saw some pain flash across his eyes, so I quickly added, "But you're my brother, Luigi. I love you too. And.... If you don't want me to, I won't ask her to marry me." I stared at my brother, pleading eyes. If he had said, "Don't marry her." I wouldn't. He was my brother and although I wanted to be with Pauline, I couldn't hurt my brother. He was my best friend and he meant just as much to me as Pauline did.

Right now though, his silence was killing me.

"You really love her, don't you?" he finally asked. I nodded as I blushed a soft strawberry red.

"More than I love pasta." I said. Believe me, coming from me that meant a lot. He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I don't like her, I'll admit that. But I don't want to stand between you and your happiness. So... You have my blessing." I'll never forget the happiness I felt when he said those words.

"Thanks, Luigi." I said.

"But if she ever hurts you in anyway, I'll never forgive her!" I just had laugh when he said that.

The next day, I took Pauline to a carnival we had been planning to go to for while now.

"Isn't this great, Mario?" Pauline asked as he held the giant teddy bear I had won for her at the hammer booth. I may have been small, but I was strong (just like mama.). I nodded as I nibbled at my third cotton candy. I was super nervous now. I knew I wanted to ask her to marry me, but the problem was I didn't know how or where. I wanted it to be special, something she would remember forever.

"Something wrong?" she asked me after I had been silent for a few seconds. I quickly shook my head.

"Uh, no! Nothing at all." I said.

"Liar!" she said as she gently poked my nose.

"Hey." I said as I laughed. Then I asked, "So where do you want to go now?" She looked thoughtful as she looked around.

"Hmm... How about there?" she asked as she pointed at 'The Hall of Mirrors'. I nodded.

"Alright."

When we entered.... that was when everything fell apart.

When we had entered we, of course were surrounded by our reflections, which I was very happy about because I was surround by the woman I loved. It was then I decided to ask her to marry me, I mean what time could be better than when the person you loved was literally all around you?

"P-Pauline?" I said nervously. She looked at me with a curious look.

"Hm?"

"Th-There's something I want to ask you." I said as I took a breath to gather my courage.

"And that is...?" she pressed, looking eggar. I opened my mouth to ask the question, but I never got it out.

For in that moment I heard the shattering of glass all around us.

"MARIO!!" was the thing I could remember before darkness over took me.

I then remember opening my eyes to see Pauline crying heavily as I laid on her lap.

"Pauline?" I said. Why was she crying? And what had happened? She smiled relieved as I touched her face.

"Mario..." she said.

"What happened?" I asked as I pushed myself up.

"Uh, nothing! You slipped down some steps and hit your head." she quickly said as she wiped her tears. I could tell she was lying. She wouldn't be crying if it was something as simple as that.

"Pauline...." I started, but she interrupted.

"Mario, I think it's time to end this." she said. I froze completely.

"Wha..."

"You heard me. It's time to end this little game of ours." she said. Her tears were completely gone now and her eyes were emotionless.

"Game?" I repeated. "What are you--"

"Oh, c'mon!" she snapped, sounding annoyed. "You never thought any of this was real did you? I just wanted to have a little fun, nothing more." She stood as she fluffed her hair. "I am a fabulous woman, with a fabulous body, too fabulous for just one man! I just so sorry for you, but even pity must come to a end."

"I don't believe this!" I yelled as I jumped up. "Are you saying that everything we've been through was just a lie? I don't believe it!"

"Oh, so would rather believe in fairy tales? You're so naive! Look at you! You're a short little plumber who will never amount to anything. And quite frankly, you're way more trouble than you're worth." she said cooly. Every word she said felt as if she was twisting a knife in my heart. Just then a taxi pulled up. "That's my ride."

"Wait!" I cried as I ran after her and grabbed her hand. "I know you don't mean any of that! I know you don't..." She looked at me with cold, cold eyes.

"Whether or not I mean them... I am still leaving. And I will never return." Then she ripped her hand out of mine and climbed in the cab.

"Wait!" I cried as it started to drive off. I chased after it as fast as I could, but it was still getting away and it was starting to rain.

But I didn't give up. Even when I had slipped in thousands of puddles, which cause many scraps, I didn't give up.

I ran and ran until I couldn't breath and heart began to beat so hard, it hurt. Finally my legs gave out under me and I fell face forward into a large puddle, hitting the hard concrete of the Brooklyn street. I hit it so hard, that I caused a huge gash in my head, but honestly I didn't notice the pain. The pain in my heart was much worst.

"Pauline..." I whimpered as I the tears began to add to the puddle I was lying in.

I don't know how long I had laid there, or how many tears I had cried. All I knew was that at that moment I felt as if the whole world had died.

"Mario?" I heard a familiar voice say. It was Luigi. My guess is he had gotten worried and had come looking for me. I couldn't answer him at first. My voice seemed to have vanished. "Mario!" he asked as bent next to me. He pulled me up so he could get a better look at me. "What happened?!"

"She left..." I finally managed to breathe, tears were still traveling down my face as I spoke.

"Huh?" he said. "You mean Pauline..."

"She left... and she's never coming back." I told him. When those words left my mouth, I completely broke down. He pulled me in to a hug and held me tightly as I trembled violently. I wasn't sure if it was because I was soaked to the bone from the rain, or because my heart was completely shattered.

Because I knew I would never see my lovely rose again.

~*~*~*~*~

Mario had finally made it back to his house, panting heavily. He went to the bed room he and Luigi shared and dug under his bed until he pulled out a little black box. He opened it and there was a ring case. He pulled it out and he felt his heart twist. The ring had a large heart shaped diamond with rubies on each side, on thick golden band.

He didn't know what to do anymore. He knew there was a reason Pauline left him, he knew there was. He just didn't know what. He had told himself that she would return someday, and then they could finally be together.

But then it happened.

He met Princess Peach and he was now in love with her. But he still loved Pauline!

Tears traveled down his face ans they fell on the inscription, which read,

'_To my beloved red rose. To you, I will love and protect for now and forever.'_

Mario honestly didn't know what to do. How could love one without feeling he betrayed the other?

How could he move on when he still wished she would return?

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What happened in the hall of mirror? Why did Pauline leave? These question are yet to be answered, but they will be eventually.

This fic and my other fic, 'My brother's tears' are actually prologues to a another fanfic I'm trying to write, which has yet to be named. I'll be posting it when I get the time.

And yes, I know Mario was bashful, but it was his first love! He had to be a bit shy. Also, the reason the battle with DK was short is because I never really played the games, so I didn't have much to go on.

Please tell me what you think!


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